NUR 601 Week 5 Blog Post 1: Empathy in Interpersonal Relationships
My concept analysis project is actually on the topic of empathy, so I found this video and blog post prompt especially interesting. Empathy is a concept crucial to nursing–it is what makes the nursing process different from machines monitoring and medicating a patient on demand. Empathy can be described as the action of experiencing the perspective of another person. Empathy is important to patients in the fact that it makes them feel heard, and therefore cared for. Because one of the most important aims of nursing is to make patients feel heard and cared for, empathy is especially important to this field. Recently, I sat with a patient who was crying and inconsolable. She was experiencing emotions such as guilt, disbelief, shame, anger, fear, and sadness. All I wanted to do was tell her something to make her feel better, or fix her problems. From previous experience, however, both in my personal life and professional experiences, I learned that the best way to approach situations with heightened negative emotions is often to simply be with the individual in distress. Allow her to express her emotions, reflect them back to her if indicated. This method helped this patient calm down.
Value: Complete at 100/Incomplete at 0
Due: Day 7
Gradebook Category: Blogs
Watch for this blog assignment. .
In a blog post of three to five sentences long, describe how empathy is an important part of your nursing practice.
Please refer to this for details on how this activity will be graded.
To Create a blog entry:
- Select the Add a New Topic button.
- Create your blog entry
- Select Post to Blog.
The Heart of Compassion Video Transcript
Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?
Henry David Thoreau
(Man in wheelchair) Has been dreading this appointment. Fears he waited too long.
(Man leaving hospital) Wife’s surgery went well. Going home to rest.
(Woman on oxygen) Day 29 waiting for a new heart.
(Woman in cafeteria) 19-year-old son on life support.
(Patient in doctor’s office) Doesn’t completely understand.
(Woman sitting with healthcare provider) Too shocked to comprehend treatment options.
(Man in waiting room) Waiting three hours.
(Woman entering hospital) Husband is terminally ill.
(Child petting dog) Visiting Dad for the last time.
(Child running) Ears all better, finally!
(Patient on crutches and neck brace) Car accident six months ago. Pain won’t go away.
(Man on escalator) Tumor was benign.
(Second man on escalator) Tumor was malignant.
If you could stand in someone else’s shoes, here what they hear, see what they see, feel what they feel, would you treat them differently?
Although I have seen this video once before, it was just as impactful for me the second time as it was the first. Working in the field of
psychiatric nursing, no patient ends up in my care without some difficult life circumstance. Whether struggling to cope with a loss, being haunted by traumatic events from their past, or being unable to control recurrent psychotic episodes, every patient that I encounter has something going on in their lives. At times, psychiatric patients can be difficult to handle because they may act out behaviorally or with violence. It is important to bear in mind, especially in the moments where a patient is particularly taxing to care for, that there is a reason that we may not know and they are hurting from something whether we know it or not.
The video “The Heart of Compassion” really pulls on my heartstrings. To me, empathy is putting yourself into someone else’s shoes to try to understand what they are going through. Everyone handles situations differently. Some people can become consumed with fear and dread, while others may be completely confused or in denial over medical diagnoses. We as nurses, friends, family members, coworkers etc., all need to be aware of this in order to understand where a person is coming from. The world would be a better place if everyone was more empathetic towards others.
The video “The Heart of Compassion” reminds me of the quote “be kind for everyone is fighting a hard battle.” Empathy is an extremely important part of my nursing practice. Labor and Delivery is generally a very happy place, but there are also extremely hard, unexpected, and traumatic events that take place. Everyone is coming into it with a different story, some people have been trying to have a baby for years, others are surprised to find out they are pregnant and wondering how they are going to make it all work. Others come in thinking it will be the happiest day of their life, only to be in an emergent situation requiring life saving measures. Being empathetic and putting yourself in these patients shoes is the key to being able to understand their point of view and better care for them.
Important information for writing discussion questions and participation
Welcome to class
Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to
I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.
Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.
If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.
Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.
Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.
I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!
Hi Class,
Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.
Contact me if you have any questions.
Important information on Writing a Discussion Question
- Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
- There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
- Include in-text citations in your response
- Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
- Follow APA-7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor
- A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
- Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
- Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
- Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
- Follow APA 7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
- Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
- Here are some helpful links
- The is a great resource